First, Daryl Braithwaite was the frontman of Sherbet, the 1970s rock band responsible for tracks such as Howzat and Summer Love. Next came the solo career that saw him release The Horses, a No 1 single so pervasive, you are probably already singing it in your head.
The Horses is one of 15 Top 40 singles Braithwaite has enjoyed across his career, an incredible contribution to music that saw him inducted into the Aria Hall of Fame in 2017. The trophy for that honour sits on Braithwaite’s mantelpiece – but it’s not his most prized possession. The award he really cherishes is one he got for surfing back in the 1960s – formative years for both the sport and Braithwaite.
Here, Braithwaite tells us about that nod from the Coogee Boardriders Club, and the item he can’t tour without (because, yes, the now-septuagenarian singer still plays regular shows).
What I’d save from my house in a fire
I would take an award that I got many years ago for surfing. It’s from the Coogee Boardriders Club in Sydney, and it was for “most improved”. A good friend of mine said they gave it to me because they couldn’t think of any other title, which I thought was quite cruel! I was a good surfer, within reason.
I started surfing in 1963. Mum, Dad, my twin brother and I moved up to Sydney because Dad got a job there. We rented a place at Coogee at the end of Moore Street; overlooking the water. You couldn’t help but get down there – it was like a magnet.
We went to school at Randwick boys’ high and on the way there, you’d walk past the surf. One day out of five you wouldn’t get on the bus – you’d go home, get your board and forget about school. Coogee was nowhere near as crowded as it is now. It was lovely. It hadn’t been developed – Justin Hemmes hadn’t put his restaurants in. And Maroubra, as I remember, was just remote.
We were manic about it back then; all of us that lived in that area. That’s all we did – live and breathe surfing. Surfing was in its infancy then. Boards had just started. Midget Farrelly was the king. It was very infectious. Then we had the Beatles and the whole experimentation with drugs. It was a great time, let me tell you.
The award sits on the mantelpiece over the fireplace, next to my Aria Hall of Fame award. And while I’m proud of both of them, the surfing one stands out a bit more.
My most useful object
My camera. I love taking photos and I’ve been doing it for a long time – I’ve probably had four or five cameras since the mid-70s. If I ever do a book of some sort, it would be a book of photos.
The latest camera is just a little Sony one, not one of those fancy SLRs. I am at the stage of questioning whether I need to take a camera when I go away on holidays, because the quality of the photos from the latest iPhones is really good. But I find I still have some sentimental attachment to carrying an actual camera – I can’t let go.
The item I most regret losing
It’s not so much one item as a series of items. I use Shure 57A microphones, which have a blue ring on the cap. I just love the blue ring – but it seems to always fall off and go missing. I get so annoyed with myself every time. I’ve taken to trying to stick the ring on to the mic with Tarzan’s Grip, but even that doesn’t work.
So then what happens is – this might sound a bit eccentric – I get home and buy a whole new mic. I probably go through a few a year!
I just think that with the blue ring on there, the mic looks fantastic. Without it, it looks lost. I know it sounds pathetic, but I have to have the blue ring – it’s just one of those strange superstitions you develop after years of touring. Like, if I’m getting dressed for the gig, I’ll put my left shoe and sock on before the right. It’s a comfort thing.
Daryl Braithwaite is next performing at Savannah in the Round, which takes place in the Cairns Hinterland from 6-8 October
